Cal State Long Beach makes `best value' list once again

LONG BEACH - Tuition has increased in recent years, but students at Cal State Long Beach are still getting a great deal for their education, according to The Princeton Review.

Cal State Long Beach has once again been named as a top value in higher education on the Princeton Review's annual "Best Value Colleges" list. Each year, Princeton Review teams up with USA Today to recognize 150 institutions - 75 public and 75 private - that offer the best reward for the dollar.

Cal State Long Beach, a regular on the list, was the only university in the 23-campus Cal State University system to appear on the 2013 list, which was released this week.

Last year, Long Beach was joined by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

UCLA appeared at No. 5 this year and was one of eight University of California campuses to make the list.

The top three public colleges were University of Virginia, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and New College of Florida. The top three private colleges were Swarthmore College, Harvard College and Williams College.

The value colleges were chosen from more than 600 institutions rated for their academics, costs and financial aid. Schools that made the list all provide top-notch academics at an affordable cost through a low sticker price and/or generous financial aid, according to The Princeton Review.

Cal State Long Beach was noted for its low cost - annual in-state tuition averages about $6,800 - and widely available financial aid.

Cal State Long Beach President F. King Alexander said the ranking shows that a high price tag doesn't always indicate educational quality.

"It is important for our students, prospective students and their parents to know that Cal State Long Beach is a national model for higher education value," Alexander said.